United's new chief pay-cutter faces little envy

That is, he was the last one still standing in the line of people willing to consider becoming UAL Corp.'s next CEO.

UAL, parent of United Airlines, put out the word in May that it needed a new chief executive. Tilton stepped forward Monday. By then, many of the nation's most eligible executives had taken two steps back.

The pickings were so slim United's board had to rely on one of its own, John Walker, as the backup choice.

It's one thing to turn to a board member in an emergency, on an interim basis. United did that last fall in its boardroom enlistment of retired Weyerhaeuser chief Jack Creighton. It would have been an act of outright desperation to go back to United's not-very-deep board for the permanent pick.

At least the backup was John Walker of Weirton Steel. The way things were going, it seemed as if John Walker Lindh might get an interview.

The optimists among us had hoped the world's second-largest airline might attract a Who's Who of top-notch candidates. But the names that trickled out tended to elicit a different response: Who? Who?

The first "Who?" was a question of identification. People such as former American Airlines finance chief Michael Durham aren't exactly household names.

The second tended to be one of consternation. As we learned whom United was considering, we were astounded that their names ever got on the list.

Delta Air Lines' chief executive Leo Mullin? No sense in him leaving the No. 3 airline to run No. 2. No point in dealing with the near-bankruptcy hassles at United when Delta might be bigger before long anyway.

John Edwardson, chairman of computer-equipment seller CDW? The unions chased him out of United once before. No reason to believe that they would embrace Edwardson now.

The name of Boeing's Alan Mulally surfaced, too. The head of Boeing's $35 billion commercial aircraft operation issued a public denial that he might be interested in the United job.

This denial rang like that of a politician who claims no interest in the vice presidential nomination--just before stepping onto the podium to explain why he couldn't ignore the groundswell of support for his nomination.

The most interesting non-pick: former United chief Gerald Greenwald. Responding to a request from the airline's mechanics, Greenwald presented a United survival plan. He offered to return to the company as a non-executive chairman.

A plan United needs. A non-executive chairman, it does not. United has had enough non-execution lately.

Granted, the United debacle presented perhaps the toughest job opening in the country this year. Consider: It took Tyco, the near-bankrupt and scandal-plagued conglomerate, just days to lure Ed Breen, who had legitimate prospects as heir apparent to Motorola chief Chris Galvin.

United, by contrast, had informally posted its help-wanted ad from the day Creighton came aboard last October.

That Tilton's name didn't surface earlier shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Tilton, 54, hasn't cut much of a profile in national business circles.

The former chief executive of Texaco had become vice chairman of ChevronTexaco after he came up on the short end of a merger last October. In executive recruitment circles, the vice chairmanship of any company is shorthand for "outplacement office."

Does Tilton have the stuff to save United? His profile sounds eerily similar to Creighton's: Heavy industry, a decent touch with unions, good Washington hand.

Also like Creighton, Tilton has entered spouting the boilerplate bromides of a new CEO. Teamwork. Customer focus. The challenges ahead.

We'll get a quick read on Tilton in the next two weeks, as he steps out of the boilerplate and into the fire of trying to persuade United's stubborn unions to take a 10 percent pay cut.

It's worth noting that Tilton has broken with Creighton in one crucial respect. He refuses to vow that he won't preside over a United bankruptcy.

Here's the bright way to look at it: At least Tilton isn't making any promises he might not keep.